1. Field
The technology herein relates generally to game machines for playing realistic video and/or computer games. In particular, the technology herein is directed to a game machine having the abilities to capture and/or transfer an image, to manipulate and edit the captured image, to incorporate the captured and/or manipulated captured image into a game that is being played on the game machine, and to map the captured image onto an animated player in the came so that the player has characteristics, e.g., facial features, that are derived from the captured image.
2. Description of Related Art
Video and computer game machines have been known for quite some time. Typically, these game machines include a game machine housing, a processing unit, associated hardware for running a gaming program, and a display for displaying images of the game. The gaming program is typically contained in a game program memory, such as, for example, a semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, etc.) that is part of a removable cartridge or other removable memory device. By storing the gaming program in a removable cartridge, the user is allowed to conveniently and easily change the game being played by simply exchanging the cartridge with one containing a different game. Examples of such game machines are the “N64” and “Game Boy” products manufactured and sold by Nintendo Corporation.
Conventional game machines of the type described above execute the game that is contained in the game program memory of a particular removable cartridge or other removable memory device. The images displayed during game play are limited to those that are contained in a memory of the removable game cartridge. While the images may change based on various inputs received from the user, images of these conventional game machines are generally predefined and are generally not subject to any manipulation, or editing or variation by the user, other than those predetermined changes that occur based on the various situations encountered during game play.
The limited predetermined images available for use in most video games restrict the ability of the user to enjoy the game. It may be more enjoyable for the user to have a more interactive relationship with the game program and the game machine. To that end, what is needed is a game machine that enables the user to define, manipulate, edit and incorporate images into the game being played. This ability would allow the user to personalize the game, including the animated game players that appear in the images of the game.
Additionally, it would be beneficial to provide the user with the ability to capture images for use with a game, and store captured images for use with various other features of the game machine. Image capture and manipulation technologies. e.g., digital cameras, are well known and exist in many forms. Typically, these image capturing and manipulation devices are very costly and are cumbersome to use, especially in the context of a personal game machine. For example, there are many different types of video cameras and digital still cameras available for capturing images. However, video cameras and digital still cameras are sometimes expensive (especially as compared to portable game machines), and have not in the past been much used as a toy or game for children. It also tends to be complicated to manipulate the images captured by these cameras, especially for use in a game environment.
There are also various computer based applications that provide a user with the ability to receive a digital image and to manipulate the digital image. There are also numerous computer programs that enable a user to draw an image or to create animation. However, as set forth above, these known image capturing and manipulation technologies are generally ill suited for portable game use, and are typically prohibitively expensive in the context of gaming applications.
Prior video game systems have been developed that capture a real-life image of an individual's face and insert that facial image onto an animated game player. Such a system is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,873 ('873 patent), that is entitled “Video Game Incorporating Digitized Images of Being Into Game Graphics.” See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,120,379, 6.285,381, 6,435,969. However, further improvements are possible.